Q1. Psalm 32

[Ms. Joanne]

On August 18, 2007 at 3:11 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q1. (Psalm 32:2-5) How does self-deceit operate with sin to enslave us? How does confession enable us to get free from sin? Why do we sometimes resist the truth about ourselves? What does it take to get us to see truth sometimes?

Our sins, when we do not acknowledge them will only serve to keep us in emotional turmoil.  This is a cost to our peace of mind. Sometimes the cost is physical.   When  asking forgiveness, there is a cost as well.  It may be one to our reputation, especially when the confession is made in public.  However, the emotional turmoil is taken away.  Once Jesus absolves us from our sins we then are released from all guilt and our emotional well being is restored.  Even though we maybe persecuted for our FORGIVEN sins by humans, we will have peace that our father in heaven has forgiven us. 

We resist seeing the truth about our selves, because denial is easier than facing the facts.  We do not want to see the harm that is being done.  Sometimes, events or other people will tell us why we need to see.

[Paulhoward]

 

Q1. (Psalm 32:2-5) How does self-deceit operate with sin to enslave us? How does confession enable us to get free from sin? Why do we sometimes resist the truth about ourselves? What does it take to get us to see truth sometimes?

This is of course part of the spiritual warefare aspect which we see in the Garden of Eden. As soon as we sin and decide not to deal with it a number of things immediately come into play: we feel guilt & which leads us to hide, we have an opening to demons to begin to condemn us & to agree with their lies just like in the "garden". We become a victim & slave to our sinful nature & the devils lies.

The way out of course is confession. The Hebrew word that Ralph highlights give us the progression:

• "Acknowledge" is yāda‘, "notice, observe." In the Hiphil stem this word has the causative connotation, "let someone know something, inform, announce, make known."⁷ 
• "Not cover up," that is, not to pretend it didn't happen or wasn't important.
• "Confess" is yādā, "to acknowledge or confess sin." We've seen this verb often in our studies of praise psalms, since it is translated "praise, give thanks, thank," in the sense of to acknowledge or confess God's character and works

We have to acknowledge , yes it happened, then we agree with God & not devil & "uncover" our sin & if possible with another Christian, then the last step "confessing" & of course receiving the forgiveness which is where another Christian can help us.

We may resist the truth, because we are "enjoying" the sin, we've said to ourselves, "it won't hurt", hence the deception. Pride wants to see ourselves as okay, "better than the next person". 

Any revelation from God may help us to see the truth, such as a Bible Reading, sermon, prophecy, even someone confronting us!!!!!! Also we may hate the feelings of guilt & wretchedness and decide we need to get right.

[Godswriter]

As an addict myself I believe self-deceit operates with sin through making us believe that we are not harming anyone when we really are. I say this from experience as an addict to food and materialism. I also believe that it tells us that we can do without God and we don’t need Him. When in truth we truly do. It also operates to chain or enslave us by making us believe that we can do everything ourselves and we have everything under control when we really don’t. For if we did we wouldn’t need to repent and ask for repeated forgiveness from God all the time for our sins. When confession is made thoroughly and sincerely by the sinner and the person chooses to really repent and confess what they have done and not hold back what they have done. We sometimes resist the truth because we do not want to face the hard facts of what we have done in our own lives to others or to God with our sin. That may mean taking responsibility for our actions and realizing that we are not perfect like we think and we need to realize that only God is and we are not. Sometimes it takes a broken relationship or something else to get us to see the truth of our condition. It all depends on what God uses to show us our depraved state.

[Lottie]

 

Q1. (Psalm 32:2-5) How does self-deceit operate with sin to enslave us? How does confession enable us to get free from sin? Why do we sometimes resist the truth about ourselves? What does it take to get us to see truth sometimes?

Self-deceit operates with sin by making excuses for our behavior and not dealing with it at all. We try and say it was not that bad or God will understand what we did. We refuse to admit that we are in the wrong. It causes us to go farther away from God and makes us miserable instead and more susceptible to Satan and his ways.

Confession allows us to unburden ourselves of the guilt we feel. It brings healing and release from our burdens and a renewed relationship with God. It causes us to acknowledge and admit we have done wrong and be repentant.

I believe we resist the truth because we do not want to admit we have done something wrong. Or we feel that the ones we hurt deserved it because they hurt us. We would rather rationalize it away then admit we are in the wrong. We do not like to admit that we are not perfect or that we are still sinners.

Sometimes it takes us being miserable spiritually and physically to see the truth. And other times it takes another person like a pastor to confront us with the truth.

[MICHELLE OXLEY]

study of Psalms.docx

[Rosesam]

Q1. (Psalm 32:2-5) How does self-deceit operate with sin to enslave us? How does confession enable us to get free from sin? Why do we sometimes resist the truth about ourselves? What does it take to get us to see truth sometimes?

When we deceive ourselves we don’t have the right view of sin. A right view of sin carries the understanding that sin deserves judgement. Without a right view of sin, we will end up covering our sin which enslaves us and we try to pass on the blame to someone else. This will result in guilt which destroys our joy. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and make Him a liar. Sin causes a separation in our relationship with God.

Confession in Hebrew is homologeo meaning to say the same thing or agree with how God views sin. When we sin we are actually grieving God. True confession in the biblical sense is not a matter or promising not to sin again, but rather agreeing with God. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Only when we confess our sin we find forgiveness and the guilt is removed. So confession will result in reconciliation back to God. Our guilt is gone and the devil can no longer torment us for our sins. This will result in a heart of gratitude unto God for what He has done for us.

Pride causes us not to expose ourselves and keep it covered up. When there is repeated sinning in our lives without repentance, our conscience become seared and we no longer realize when sin is committed. We start calling sin by different names like adultery as affair, homosexuality as a problem in genetics etc. Or it may be a plain rebellion on our part not to confess and become right with God. Since sin offends a Holy God, the devil is also blinding us from seeing that.

We need the conviction of the Holy Spirit to know that when we confess our sins, it loses its grip on us and that godly sorrow leads us to repentance and repentance will result in change of heart. An understanding of His heart as revealed through His word will cause us to realize that confession will result in restoration of joy. Bible says that “faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God”. As we meditate on the scriptures fear is removed and faith takes hold of us and this will cause us to confess unto Him. Even if we try to hide our sins, we can never hide it from the all-knowing, omniscient God. Humility which is the opposite of pride will result in confession. Humility causes the “I” in me to submit before Him. When we truly desire to be set free we will be truthful of our condition and confess before Him.

[Krissi]

As a Protestant, I would love to confess anonymously to a religious leader behind a screen, and then hear him mirror what Jesus would say, "Your sins are forgiven." I would love his advice on how to make amends. Such confession would help Protestants (and most Catholics) recover their own deeply rooted need to confess their sins to God. As Pastor Ralph wrote, they could experience a huge relief when forgiveness and freedom from past sin is understood to have happened. The fact that a person confesses to another person doesn't negate the fact the God is between them, hearing and forgiving.

Confession precedes emotional and moral liberty. If we don't confess, we stay bound to the sin that controls us. We resist because telling anyone, even God, our sinful thoughts/deeds is akin to admitting that the image we've created of ourselves for both ourselves and others is ... a lie. That's why Nathan had to confront David. Had he not confronted David, David would have been able to pretend it didn't happen. To David's credit, his guilt overwhelmed him and he confessed. I've watched people double down on the sin rather than confess it -- confession is that hard! I'm sure I've done this myself.

There is a moment in the Anglican liturgy before the eucharist where the congregants are supposed to recall sins and ask for forgiveness. Yes, it's a moment. In most services, I have barely started confessing and recalling sins when the minister moves on to the rest of the liturgy. This has bothered me for a long time. We need time to confess.

I do think Protestant churches need to institute some sort of confessional time. There's nothing wrong with taking the best from our Catholic brethren. Anonymous, unseen, conversational confession could have the potential of radically changing our ability to confess to God as long as it were voluntary, anonymous, and secure. 

Perhaps one of the reasons why Catholic confession has fallen to the wayside is that the government has tried to coerce priests to give up confessional information to the government if a person confessed to have committed certain crimes. It's important to keep the government out of our relationship to God and each other. The wall of separation between church and state must be thick and tall.